Sports

5 QUESTIONS FOR… MARV ALBERT

YES! The NBA’s All-Star Break is upon us. TNT and YES analyst Marv Albert talked with the Post’s Justin Terranova about the Knicks’ chances of getting LeBron in 2010, and if the Nets can survive in the Meadowlands.

Q: Did the Knicks make the right move by sacrificing this season for 2010?

A: It was an excellent move. They knew they weren’t going anywhere. They were just running in place with Jamal Crawford and Zach Randolph. Hopefully, Knicks fans have the patience to wait this out because there are going to be some rough moments this season and next.

Obviously Knicks fans are looking for LeBron James, but it’s impossible to answer that right now. There are other guys out there, too, but the team we are looking at now is not the team we will be looking at in two years. At least with Mike D’Antoni and Donnie Walsh the team is on the right track.

Q: Do you think it affects the players on this team knowing that they are viewed as a stopgap until 2010, when the star players become available?

A: The climate of sports is so different these days that even though it is a team concept, it’s a business and they are playing for themselves. They know who they are, let’s put it that way. Anybody on that team who looks at it objectively knows they won’t be a part of this team, save for a couple of guys. They know what’s happening and they are playing for their next contract for their next team.

Q: Should the Nets go after Amare Stoudemire, who the Suns appear interested in trading?

A: If the Nets are able to keep their nucleus and get Stoudemire they are a playoff team, they would get better crowds and they would be an exciting team. And it would be a big pickup for them, especially with the new arena on the horizon. And all the things I’m hearing is that there’s two more appeals that they are waiting on and if that is okayed they will break ground.

Q: Do the Nets have to move to Brooklyn in order to survive?

A: I think they have to move. They can last awhile longer as they wait on the arena, but it’s going to be very, very tough. They had two teams that made it to the NBA Finals and they did OK, but it was not an automatic sellout. If they were playing in MSG, it would’ve been sold out every night.

Q: At the All-Star Break, which teams do you see as the top contenders?

A: The league has four teams – Boston, Cleveland, Lakers and San Antonio. I don’t see any team cracking those elite teams.